Kitchen Mission Statement

We believe that food service is an integral part of our camp community. Breaking bread together helps to create a sense of community and comfort. We pledge to provide whole food that is nutritious, healthy, alive in flavor, aesthetically pleasing, and presented reverently to our guests and staff. We are committed to providing food services that support a sustainable future. We incorporate the community philosophy of Camp Augusta to maintain and develop a healthy social and working environment. We pledge to take a stand on many issues surrounding our food supply, creating a socially responsible environment. To this end, we strictly adhere to the following principles:

We provide meals that are 92-100% organic.

Everything we serve is freshly prepared from scratch using authentic ingredients.

Menus and recipes are created by the management team based upon feedback from our campers and community. The Camp Augusta Kitchen has the unique practice of empowering chefs to make creative decisions in menu planning.

We use healthy cooking techniques such as steaming, broiling or grilling to maintain the flavor and nutritional value of the food.

We provide sustainable and locally grown produce, chicken, beef and pork whenever possible. Many of our ingredients are served within 24 hours of harvest.

Our oils and sweeteners are the highest standard available.

These principles foster many partnerships within our local community. We recognize the role we fill in these relationships and take great care to honor our partnerships.

Director's Statement

Meet Our Chef

Sample Menus

Lazy Dog

Nut Resistance

Kitchen Video

Director's Statement

So, I’ve (Director) been in camping for 20+ summers now at 17 different camps, and I’ve seen all kinds of food hit the plate!

Camp Augusta kitchen staff make much of our food from scratch. Bread, pancake mix, desserts, and pizza crusts are made by hand. Sauces, salsas and soups are made from basic ingredients, not out of ready-to-eat containers. There are almost no “heat and serve” products used in this kitchen, the only exception being tortellini.

Camp Augusta has a much larger kitchen staff proportionally than other camps, but these community members are used to putting hours of preparation into the meals. It would be easier to buy frozen chicken fingers and pre-made brownies, but we are able to use fresh ingredients that don’t need to be pre-processed. Wherever possible, the most basic ingredients are purchased in bulk to be prepared by our staff instead of spending more on processed foods.

The menu is designed to be simple and camper friendly, but also to include a healthy balance of nutrition. Weekly feedback is taken from the campers to find out what meals were liked and disliked and how they could be improved. Some meals were discontinued or revamped because of this information.

Every lunch and dinner at Camp Augusta has a full salad bar with an array of fresh vegetables, salads, hummus, hand-made dressings and fresh fruits. Fresh fruit is also available at all times to the campers and staff throughout the day.

We don’t serve candy, chips, croutons on the salad bar, iceberg lettuce, tater tots, or other high fat, low nutrition, or high sugar foods. We do serve a dessert daily, at dinner.

A few other kitchen notes . . . We compost food scraps and weigh food waste. We use whole grains and serve gluten free to those requesting it. Cooked, prepared, vegetarian options are always offered, and vegan options by request. We don’t heat anything up in plastic. We recycle everything we can and use bulk containers whenever possible.

Meet Our Chef

For as long as she can remember, Barbara Linares has great memories about travel and food. The daughter of an airline executive, she traveled around the world twice before the age of 16! She was fascinated with the flavors and presentation of food and amazed at the overlap around the globe.

Barbara is entering her seventh year at Camp Augusta as the Kitchen Manager. Her adult life education and experiences include 3 major careers; dentistry, education, and culinary arts. For over 35 years, her passion and interest lives in the quickly changing and expanding natural food industry. Her knowledge of whole and organic nutrition has been both a personal and professional endeavor.

Taking elements from her biography, Barbara enjoys her camp chef experience. Her love of art and children translates into detail and presentation of her daily menu offerings. She offers her passionate service to ensure guests and children receive healthy and enjoyable offerings. Barbara had developed close relations with our vendors and farmers, who call the Camp Kitchen the “best secret in town”, and offers them meals when they make deliveries. It’s no wonder most of our deliveries are during breakfast and lunch! Barbara loves calling Nevada City home, and in the offseason you will find her dancing, reading, hiking, swimming, in the theater, or spending time with her family and friends.

Lazy Dog is a local company (about 5 miles away on Lazy Dog road) that makes all their own ice cream — just the husband and wife together! They do not have a store front, instead going to local festivals and setting up their stand. Twice a week, they come by Camp Augusta after dinner. Campers choose from over 30 handmade flavors of bars, drumsticks, or fruit freezes.

Nut Resistance

Nut- Resistant Kitchen

Camp Augusta is a Nut-Resistant, Peanut Aware, Gluten/Soy/Dairy/Seed Aware facility when we have health threatening allergies during a session at camp. We cater to those individuals with nut allergies and at the same time are unable to guarantee a 100% nut-free zone. Many of our foods may not contains nuts as an ingredient, however, may be processed in facilities that also processes nuts. If you or your child has nut allergies please speak with the kitchen manager to assure your needs are met.

What We Can Guarantee:

We will not serve nuts or any of the allergens listed above during a session when we have a health threatening allergy. We will also remove all products that contain these ingredients from our kitchen.

What We Do Not Guarantee:

The items that may be of caution for nut allergies are food products that “may have been processed around/with nuts”. In our kitchen- this means tahini, breakfast cereals, and other products may contain traces of nuts. If you or your child has a severe allergy, arrange to speak with the kitchen manager about which foods to avoid. Although this food is marked and labeled during service, it is your responsibility to gain this knowledge and manage your allergens.

We serve Lazy Dog Ice Cream that has nut and nut-free options. 150-200 people eat ice cream that may be processed in a facility with nuts, causing a possible opportunity for cross contamination.

Cross contamination from food brought into camp from an outside source.

Meal preparation and consumption is one of the most social “ingredients” at camp. Kindly take in to consideration everyone’s allergies, religious or alternative dietary choices and needs.